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The Journal of Neuroscience, January 21, 2009, 29(3):798-810; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3408-08.2009

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Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Propagation of Sinusoidal Electrical Waves along the Spinal Cord during a Fictive Motor Task

Carlos A. Cuellar,¹ Jesus A. Tapia,¹ Victoria Juárez,¹ Jorge Quevedo,² Pablo Linares,¹ Lourdes Martínez,¹ and Elias Manjarrez¹

¹Instituto de Fisiología Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, CP 72570 Puebla, México, and ²Departamento de Fisiología, Biofísica y Neurociencias, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados, DF 07000 México, México

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Elías Manjarrez, Instituto de Fisiología, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, 14 sur 6301, Col. San Manuel Apartado Postal 406, CP 72570 Puebla, México. Email: emanjar{at}siu.buap.mx

We present for the first time direct electrophysiological evidence of the phenomenon of traveling electrical waves produced by populations of interneurons within the spinal cord. We show that, during a fictive rhythmic motor task, scratching, an electrical field potential of spinal interneurons takes the shape of a sinuous wave, "sweeping" the lumbosacral spinal cord rostrocaudally with a mean speed of 0.3 m/s. We observed that traveling waves and scratching have the same cycle duration and that duration of the flexor phase, but not of the extensor phase, is highly correlated with the cycle duration of the traveling waves. Furthermore, we found that the interneurons from the deep dorsal horn and the intermediate nucleus can generate the spinal traveling waves, even in the absence of motoneuronal activity. These findings show that the sinusoidal field potentials generated during fictive scratching could be a powerful tool to disclose the organization of central pattern generator networks.

Key words: slow oscillations; scratching; dorsal horn neurons; scratch reflex; traveling waves; spinal cord

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Received July 14, 2008; revised Dec. 16, 2008; accepted Dec. 17, 2008.

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Elías Manjarrez, Instituto de Fisiología, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, 14 sur 6301, Col. San Manuel Apartado Postal 406, CP 72570 Puebla, México. Email: emanjar{at}siu.buap.mx

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. C. Kwan, S. B. Dietz, W. W. Webb, and R. M. Harris-Warrick Activity of Hb9 Interneurons during Fictive Locomotion in Mouse Spinal Cord J. Neurosci., September 16, 2009; 29(37): 11601 - 11613. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. Perez, J. A. Tapia, C. R. Mirasso, J. Garcia-Ojalvo, J. Quevedo, C. A. Cuellar, and E. Manjarrez An Intersegmental Neuronal Architecture for Spinal Wave Propagation under Deletions J. Neurosci., August 19, 2009; 29(33): 10254 - 10263. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				V. A. Selionov, Y. P. Ivanenko, I. A. Solopova, and V. S. Gurfinkel Tonic Central and Sensory Stimuli Facilitate Involuntary Air-Stepping in Humans J Neurophysiol, June 1, 2009; 101(6): 2847 - 2858. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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